Vending machine for frozen confections and vending belt therefor



Jan. 9, 1 940. -J..W. MARTIN 2,186,302

VENDING MACHINE FOR FROZEN CONFECTIONS AND VENDING BELT THEREFOR Filed July 30,, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet l;

- q I v INVENTOR. 'Jfl/Y/ES WELLFO/PD M/IRT/N ATTORNEY.

vmmme ncama iron mozmn CONFECTIONS ANQXENDINGBELT THEREFOR Filed Jul 30, 1937 I 5 sheets-Sheet? 7' g 'la I INVENTOR JHMES WE'L L FORD MH RT/N Patented Jan. 9, 1940 visnnnm MACHINE FOR rnoznn con-z FECTIONSI AND vENmNdBELrTnEaE- 1 FOR James'wellford Martin Yonkers yN. Y; Application July 30, 1937, Serial Nor156,472 4 Claims. (01. 62-;ll1.5)f

The present invention relates to theart' of dispensing unitary packages of merchandise, and, more particularly, to a novel and improved vending machine and vending beltfor dispensing '6 frozen confections.

' It is an object'of the present invention to pro- "vide a vending machine particularly adapted to dispense unitaryquantities or packages of frozen confections which eliminatesthe disadvantages 1 andinconvenience's ofco'nventional vending ma- I It is another object of the present invention to provide a vending machine includinga-vending belt bearing a plurality of vending packets and adapted to be displaced step by step to make a single vending packet accessible to the consumer for each displacement.- lt is a further object of the invention to provide an improved vending machine comprising 2 a heat-insulated cabinet adapted to be refrigerated by means of a suitable refrigerant and which maybe filled with unitary packages of frozen confections equidistantially -mounted 'on 'avendingbelt.

"The invention also contemplates a novel type of unit for merchandising and selling candy, frozen confections, such as ice cream} and 'the like in uniform packages-mounted equidistantially along 'the'length of a vending belt which 0 may be quickly and easily inserted asaunit into a vending'jmachine for subsequently dispensing the packages in succession. H j It is also within contemplation of the invention to provide a vending machine particularly for frozen confections which isjsi'mple in'constru'ctio'n, satisfactory and fool-proof in operationand which may be manufactured and sold on a com- 'mercial scale at a low price. f I Other and further objects and advantagesof the invention will become apparent from' the following description taken in conjunction with [the accompanying drawings, in which; I

Fig. 1' illustrates a vertical sectional view of a vending machine embodying the principles of the 45 present invention; r

Fig. 2 depicts a sectional view taken online- 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a horizontal sectional view having parts in elevation taken on line 33 of 50 Fig.

Fig. 4 is a top elevational view of the vending machine shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 5 illustrates a side view, somewhat fragmentaryjof a portion ofa vending belt} Fig. 6 depicts a top levational 1 view or a portion-or the vending belt with a; taaiaumtary packages mounted thereon;-,and,-

Fig.7. shows, a, vertical sectional view-of a modified embodiment of, the present invention intoJa vending machine; I Y

Broadly stated," according to the principles of the present inventionlprovide a vending belt *constitutedof a strip of flexible cardboard, canvas or some otherweb of material having'some flexibility andstrength. On this belt I-equidistam,

tially mount a plurality of units ofmerchandise, such asunitary packages of candy, ice cream,

or the ilikeyel .prefer'to provide .these unitary packages. in theform of substantially cylindrical or tubular units which are secured to thevend- "ing belt proper by means of'suitable fastening means, such as an-adhesive, a'glue, a cementi- 'tious materiaLparafiine, etc. I have found that a'simpleand inexpensive way of securely and removably fastening a I large number of such unitary packages to the vending belt is. to provideian auxiliary .or supportingstrip of paper or other similar sheetelike material which is placed above the units'of "cylindrical vor other shape and is connected to the vending belt proper by means of staples, adhesives and the like 'atthepoints in between the unitary packages. "The strength of the supporting strip is preferably such that'it will securely support the unitary: packages of merchandise but atthe same time it can be readily: torn awayiby the consumer to remove'the unitary, package or car- 3 tridge'of' merchandise from the vending belt.

-' .Th'e; vending belt with the equidistantially distributed unitary packages of I merchandise may be formed in theform of. ani'endless belt or. in

theform-of a belt having "two ends; as this will I be more fully explained hereinafter.

Clearly, the vending belt connects a large number of unitary packages ,of merchandise secured to'the same belt to forma single commercial unit'which can be inserted by a simple and single operation'into a vending cabinetor machine. cial importance for the handling and dispensing This is. of espeof frozen confections which cannot'behandled or kept in unrefrigerated "compartments for; any length of time without deteriorationand melting.

' For dispensing the unitary packages'of merchandise, I providea cabinet'or box. In the event that the merchandise is ice cream, or some heat-insulated and is refrigerated by'means of other frozen confectiomthis cabinet is carefully 35 canvas; cardboardi or somesother sheetalikeamais arranged on a system of rollers in order to permit easy displacement thereof, or is contained within the cabinet in a folded condition similar to the cartridge belts of machine guns. I also provide driving means for this vending belt engaging suitable depressions or. perforations in the marginal portions of the belt, said driving dividual vending units. The driving means ,are.

preferably actuated by means of -release'd actuating mechanism whic wi by a suflicient distance to package before a window where it becomes accessible to the operator and may bememoved the supporting strip or preferably simply eby z. tearing the supporting strip open.

The invention will now be "'to thos slnl'led in th 20 more eference'being 'had raj'w-ingsgai. an); 1 w particularly to Figs. rm 4, embodiment of thepresenteinvend. Reierence 'character-l denotes si 'gSconstitutedcof-ia hatlinsute al. penirigsrand ii are-provided them top siir ace of the cabinet": and :are a closed n eans weovers mnd 5: Removal oflx'covers imakes the inter'ior ofithe -cabinet readily ss le fo'r theinsertion fofi merchandise-sin o tne f rm oi vending belts an'd forfiasrefrigerant, s w'aterice or dry ice-Li. Withinathe cabinet,

pfovide endless-belt G'lconstituted :of strong either by sliding it out sidew1 riomufiuerneam 21 machine. The driving means comprise a sprocket wheel {4 adapted to engage the perforations in the xmarginal portions of the belt. Shaft I5 of sprocket wheel I4 is capable of being rotated by means of a conventional weight I6 sus- 5 pended on a string l1 wound around the shaft. In the upper portion of the cabinet, a discharge 0 ening l8 is provided and the vending belt is rrie a ai pin prg s anpunen [8 within 'asy accessfo'i the operator: "To" prevent access 10 to the interior of the machine, a small hinged "door or lid 20 is provided at one side of this dishich permits the belt and the but which prevents interference with t ioperation of the machine, or

.the,,removal oi more than one piece or unit of the"mer chafidisefrom the discharge opening at atime; laalsosprovide a coin-actuated releasin 1-4 mechanism for the driving means which will fully escr'ibed" move -tlie veiiding belt by a unitary distance for .iact that eaten-av having strength'iand which is .flexible A plur" ity-- of:= unitarywpackages ofe 10653026211110! so'm other similar" merchandise and. having;- a substantially cylin'drical shape is denoted; byiref- 10 erence character :11; :andsara secured equidistanti'a-llyi to the vendi-ngabelt; it Thergconstruction-a pf packages are secured 'heretoi-willlbebestobserved from Figsx'5 .arid 6.'m lt' 'will be? notedrithat .-:,the 5 cylindrical andi unitary-Z packagesf;

scream are? held? by. means of ai support -g ip oflcardboard oriother readily severable imaterial,

' nipositiorr whiclrstripsis secured to lthe .vend- 1;? belt 6. propersbyzmeans of: staplesgiacor some 3 1': other similar fastening means. ms ;;it.=sclearly.i app'earsr f'rom Figl'fi, the supporting strip isinferior width tori-that of lathe; 'vendingbelt :and is. preferablyisli'ghtly less incwidthiathan the packagejaof ice acrea ma: in: ordercto permits ready; removal of 1110f: the. Ace

Ian handle cabine an placed aro Perforationsrm l fl areli providedmon the= marginal'cedgeseof" vendingaybeltt sywhich can .4

be engaged lbymean's zofia sprocket; wheel i or some other: driving *meansiorfpropellin thezbeltduring "therdisp'ensingnoperation. 1-1, 1

spaced relationshipron a shaft 13,, ,1 Thes discs rhaveasuchcwidthethatktheyaonly engage the gnarlTheavending:belt-with theize uidi stantiallyjdistributed packages is' aprovided-Jn .the form' 0151118111 1- i iniliorderxt'ci"permitseasy-displacementzithereof. u thealowerupulleysydzcare; cons tut of two -:nietali discssroitatably mounted in parallel ginaliportionssqf athe"gbending helhywhereas the =7 packets lot-merchandise themselves J iaYojpass in f between 'th discsna 'th' indicated-indottfid iries in Fig. sit. ill

a'ag line 3 between' the: pulleys-4 in i order permit he storage of a; substantial .l'engthi; of @the belt iiiq 'a 'd thus" a largefin'umber of packages in thetvend- --the e'ndless vending'ibelt as cconductedz iazazil u ate ciai she pulleys, The modifle chandisen Preferably, a coin-actuated release mechanism (not shown) is provided for the control of the driving means and to propel the vendingbelt by a unitary distance for the insertion of each coin into a conventional slot 5|. The vending belt 52'; from which the packages of ice cream have been removed accumulates in the right hand compartment 53 from which it may be removed at convenient intervals through door 54. Of course, the vending belt may be constituted of any suitable material, for' example, canvas, or .cardboard. Generally speaking, cardboard of suitablethickness and strength is preferred since this is inexpensive enough for.

to be thrown away aftera single use. In view of the similarity of construction, the operation of this modified embodiment of my vending inachine will be readily understoodby those skilled in the art without any further explanation. Same as in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, it is preferred to supply the bending belt with the mounted packages of merchandise as a unit which may be quickly inserted into the machine and may be quickly replaced with a new one after the old one has been consumed.

It will be noted that the vending machines embodying the principles of the present invention provide a number of important advantages. First of all, a simple, inexpensive and fool-proof vending machine is provided which may be manufactured, sold and operated with a minimum of servicing or trouble.

' It is also to be observed that the present invention successfully solves the problem of automatically merchandising ice cream and other ch ine said refrigerating means comprising in combination a heat-insulated casing having substantially gas-tight bottom and side walls, a dry I ice holding device in said casing adapted to hold dry ice for filling said casing with cold and dry gases and for maintaining a low temperature therein, and a permanently open discharge opening in the top portion of said casing through which gases produced by said dry ice continuously overflow and block the entrance of outer warm and moist air into the casing; said refrigerating means being adapted to cooperate with said dispensing means .to surround them and the packages of frozen confections with an atmosphere considerably below its dew point whereby sticking and refreezing of said packages to the dispensing means is positively prevented.

2. In a vending machine having a vending belt for holding a plurality of packages of frozen confections severably mounted thereon at regular spaced intervals to prevent direct contact and .a time; refrigerating means for said machine,

said refrigerating means comprising in combination a heat-insulated casing having substantially gas-tight bottom and side walls for said vending belt and said driving means, a dry ice holding device in'said casing adapted to hold dry ice for filling said casing with cold and dry gases and for maintaining a low temperature therein, and

a permanently open discharge opening in the top portion of said casing through which gases produced by said dry ice: continuously overflow and block the entrance of outer warm and moist air into the casing; said refrigeratingcmeans being 1 confections severably mounted thereon at regular spaced intervals to prevent direct contact and freezing together thereof, perforations in the marginal portions of said belt, and dispensing means including guiding means for said belt, a sprocket wheel engaging said perforations in said belt, and driving means for said sprocket wheel adapted to displace said-belt towards a discharge opening and to successively expose the packages thereon to the exterior for the removal of a single package at a time; refrigerating means for said machine, said refrigerating means comprising in combination a heat-insulated casing having substantially gas-tight bottom walls for said vending belt and said driving means, a dryice holding device in said casing adapted to hold dry ice for filling said casingwith cold and dry gases and for maintaining a low temperature therein, and a permanently open discharge opening in the top surface of said casing through which gases produced by said dry ice continuously overflow and block the entrance of outer warm and moist air into the casing; said refrigerating means being adapted to cooperate with said dispensing means to surround them and'the packages of frozen con-' aiaaaoa fections with an atmosphere considerably below its dew point whereby sticking and refreezing of said packages to the dispensing means is positively prevented.

4. In a vending machine having a vending belt for holding a plurality of packages of frozen confections severably mounted thereon at regular spacedintervals to prevent direct contact and freezing together thereof, said belt being folded in a zig-zag-like manner to provide a substantially rectangular unit, perforations in the marginal portions of said belt, and dispensing means including guiding means for said belt, a sprocket wheel engaging said perforations in said vbelt, and driving means for said sprocket wheel for displacing said belt towards a discharge opening and to successively expose said packages to the exterior through said discharge opening for the removal of a single package at a time; refrigerating means for said machine, said refrigerating means comprising in combination a heat-insulated casing having substantially gas-tight bottom walls for said vending belt and said driving means, a dry ice holding device in said casing adapted to hold dry ice for filling said casing with cold and dry .gases and for maintaining a low temperature therein, and a permanently open discharge opening in the top surface of said casing through which gases produced by said dry ice continuously overflow and block the entrance of outer warm and moist air into the casing; said refrigerating means being adapted to cooperate with said dispensing means to surround them and the packages of frozen confections with an atmosphere considerably below its dew point whereby sticking and refreezing of said packages to the dispensing means is positively prevented.

JAMES WEILFORD MARTIN. 

